Here at home, an american hero received the medal of honor. He earned it without ever firing a shot. He was not a soldier. He was a man of god, a priest who carried the mightiest weapon of all -- love. 60 years after he died in a p.Ea, those he saved stood in his honor. Abc's jonathan karl was there. Reporter: There's never been anybody quite like father kapaun, a candidate for sainthood and now a recipient of america's highest military honor. Father kapaun has been called a shepherd imbat boots. Reporter: An army chaplain who neafr carried a gun, shown here celebrating mass during the dark days of the korean war. He's credited with saving hundreds of wounded soldiers in battle. He went around with the wounded and the dying is what he did. Sergeant herbert miller with a broken ankle and lying in a ditch. He was about to be executed by a -- an enemy soldier when he saw father kapaun. Pretty quick, father kapaun come from across the road, pushed that guy aside, bent down, picked me up, and he carried me. Reporter: They were captured, and kapaun carried miller on a four-mile death march to a north korean p.O.W. Camp. It was then that father kapaun showed his greatest heroism. They lived in filth. He washed their cloths, and he cleansed their wounds. One of them later said that with his very presence, he could, just for a moment, turn a mud hut into a cathedral. Reporter: The pows called him "the good thief." He stole food from their captors to help keep them alive. After seven months as a prisoner, he died of starvation and pneumonia, was buried in an unmarked grave, his remains still somewhere in north korea. Before he died, he was heard praying for his captors. Forgive them lord, for they know not what they do. Jonathan karl, abc news, the white house.

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